← All questions

#140 · 3 reasons you're not seeing results (AI automation agencies)

youtube ↗Agency Operations

Can we set up a call? Do you still offer one-on-one consulting?

Hey Nick, please answer the question. I built a lead conversion system, missed call, text back, whatever, and I'm writing paid ads behind it for mortgage brokers. Should I include paid ads? That's interesting. You're selling paid ads plus all of this, which is great—it's like a containerized package service. If you do, charge a media buy fee; a management fee is usually about a third of the media buy. For example, if someone spends $1,000 a month on ads, charge $300 a month. This lets you scale quickly and easily. I see Stephan's question is the same as the previous one, so I'll skip it. Tyler or Joel says thanks. Frank asks how to operate pass‑through credits for services like Appify, Chatp, and Instantly, whether the credits come out of your build, and how to set it up. No—I just get the client to pay for it. When I say pass through, the clients are paying for it. If you want to set it up, you have to do it manually, which sucks. You could update it once a month. If you have their Stripe, you could theoretically auto‑build using Stripe after calculating monthly token usage, but I don't think that's a good idea. The credits don't auto‑build; they stay manual. If you want to do pass‑through, tell the client how much the tokens cost at the end of the contract and then handle it. If you need it ongoing, you need a way to calculate token usage automatically. It's annoying, so I don't recommend it. Snapo thanks me for the free game. I record videos with OBS Studio; zooming or switching views is done live, not in post‑production, which cuts editing time and removes the need to publish to post. I've been building and documenting an automation as well. The fastest way to scale depends on where you are. If you lack demonstrated value, inbound won't work—you need proven results. I've built two agencies, one at $92K and another at $72K, and my agency will soon far exceed those numbers because I've grown the team. I've shown success doing what most people want: starting an agency in the agency space. People want to know how to do that, make money with it, bootstrap, and do cold emails. I'm good at all that, so when I talk about it it's like listening to a bank robber rate his top 10 heists, Lionel Messi rate his top 10 plays, or LeBron talk about dunking. I'm not claiming to be the LeBron of AI automation, but I am the LeBron of AI automation in terms of experience. If you don't have equivalent experience, inbound won't work. Your oldest video is 10 months old; if you've made less than $20K in 10 months (about $2K/month), you'd be better off starting with cold outreach instead of documenting your approach. I hate to say it, but that's the truth. The fastest way to scale really depends on your starting point. Hopefully I've made my point clear. I didn't start with YouTube videos; I made money first, got good at delivering value, then realized I could talk about it for hours, found it affordable to create content, gained authority, and started making videos—and it worked.

consultingpaid adspass-throughscaling

Related answers

youtube ↗Agency Operations

How do you handle pass-through credits for services like Appify, Chatp, and Instantly? Do the credits come out of your build, and how do you set this up?

No—I just get the client to pay for it. When I say pass through, the clients are paying for it. If you want to set it up, you have to do it manually, which sucks. You could update it once a month. If you have their Stripe, you could theoretically auto‑build using Stripe after calculating monthly token usage, but I don't think that's a good idea. The credits don't auto‑build; they stay manual. If you want to do pass‑through, tell the client how much the tokens cost at the end of the contract and then handle it. If you need it ongoing, you need a way to calculate token usage automatically. It's annoying, so I don't recommend it. Snapo thanks me for the free game. I record videos with OBS Studio; zooming or switching views is done live, not in post‑production, which cuts editing time and removes the need to publish to post. I've been building and documenting an automation as well. The fastest way to scale depends on where you are. If you lack demonstrated value, inbound won't work—you need proven results. I've built two agencies, one at $92K and another at $72K, and my agency will soon far exceed those numbers because I've grown the team. I've shown success doing what most people want: starting an agency in the agency space. People want to know how to do that, make money with it, bootstrap, and do cold emails. I'm good at all that, so when I talk about it it's like listening to a bank robber rate his top 10 heists, Lionel Messi rate his top 10 plays, or LeBron talk about dunking. I'm not claiming to be the LeBron of AI automation, but I am the LeBron of AI automation in terms of experience. If you don't have equivalent experience, inbound won't work. Your oldest video is 10 months old; if you've made less than $20K in 10 months (about $2K/month), you'd be better off starting with cold outreach instead of documenting your approach. I hate to say it, but that's the truth. The fastest way to scale really depends on your starting point. Hopefully I've made my point clear. I didn't start with YouTube videos; I made money first, got good at delivering value, then realized I could talk about it for hours, found it affordable to create content, gained authority, and started making videos—and it worked.

pass-throughcreditsStripescaling
youtube ↗Pricing

Is $3 per page a fair price for my WordPress automation service, or should I switch to a monthly/tiered model? Should I offer it for free initially to showcase value? Also, any advice on improving my recording and presentation skills despite limited camera experience?

Regarding your WordPress automation pricing: charging $3 per page (based on your two‑hour effort) undervalues the work because the marginal cost of running the automation is near zero. Instead of billing per run, give the system away for free on a pilot campaign to demonstrate its value, then switch to a tiered monthly fee—for example, around $2,895 for 1,000 campaigns per month. This aligns pricing with the client’s ongoing benefit and avoids messy usage‑based billing. On improving your recording and presentation skills: I was in the same boat—lots of door‑to‑door sales experience but almost no camera time. I fixed it by recording Loom videos daily at high volume. The trick is to mentally flip a switch: imagine an audience listening, just as you do when speaking to a real person, and then talk naturally. Repetition builds comfort, so keep creating content. Beyond that, I’ve been working on Maker School exclusives to reduce churn. I’ve posted long‑form videos (like an hour‑plus content‑machine walkthrough) and plan another exclusive (perhaps a calendar). Tracking metrics shows our monthly recurring revenue dipped from ~305 K to ~34.5 K, indicating a 23.6 % churn that I’m addressing with exclusive content. Even if Maker School vanished, I could fall back on my agency, scaling it to $150‑200 K/month and using that social proof to boost my YouTube channel. I’m also exploring private‑equity and other ventures, but the core takeaway is that the skills I’ve built—community building, content creation, sales process—are transferable to any business model.

pricingautomationwordpressmonthly
youtube ↗Lead Generation

Do you have any Google Console settings to avoid Google Docs rate limits when running on autopilot? Also, what are your thoughts on asset-based outreach versus a straight book-a-call CTA?

Asset-based outreach requires more time and energy upfront; it yields higher conversion but costs more money and results in fewer leads per day due to bottlenecks. In contrast, a book-a-call CTA converts lower but costs less money because you don’t need to generate assets, and the main bottleneck is scraping Apollo, which costs about 75 cents per 1,000 leads. You can get an Appify subscription and pay per use of your $26 credit (or less with my Nick 30 code). I'm 66 years old, learning this every day, and I'm enthusiastic about it. Regarding guarantees, I offer a Vappy bot that handles calls and orders via a POS system; I guarantee it will save you X, Y, or Z in dollars or hours, or you don't pay. On Maker School: it's purpose-built for people with zero sales experience, those at the start line of their business lacking daily accountability, sales systems, or pitch experience. If you have zero sales experience, this is the system for you. The main expenses are cold email and the Upwork community (the third lead-gen approach I discuss, which is free but time-intensive). Upwork averages $2-$2.50 per application; I recommend sending 10 applications per day ($25/day) for 30 days. In practice most people send only three to five per day, which still yields ROI because you spend the money gradually and can recoup it when a client pays a few hundred dollars. Instantly costs between $40 and $100 depending on the plan. Lead costs are about 75 cents per 1,000 leads, and with my Apify coupon they're even less; you may have some upfront fees, budgeting a few hundred dollars if you're going to be consistent, otherwise it could be around $100. As for Russell's question about free value offers in cold emails: the best offer is to promise to make or save the prospect a specific amount of money, and if you don't deliver, they pay nothing; you'll keep working until you achieve at least the minimum result, then pitch them something else, and even if they don't fall in love with you, you won't charge them. This kind of offer might have a 30-50% refund rate, but it generates strong front-end interest, especially for beginners who gain conversations and skill rapidly. Finally, offering to implement a simple workflow for free can be effective as long as the workflow is personalized and directly tied to a measurable return on investment, balancing risk mitigation with the guarantee.

google consoleasset based outreachbook a callupwork
youtube ↗Agency Operations

How do you onboard your automation clients, create the roadmap, and set expectations for retainer clients?

I start with a kickoff call where I deliver quick wins to minimize buyer's remorse, and I always take payment upfront before any work begins - never considering a client 'onboard' until the money is in my account. After receiving payment, I create a detailed proposal that serves as both a sales document and a roadmap. Roughly 60% of the proposal outlines the client's problems, demonstrating my understanding from any prior small project; about 20% covers the proposed solution; the remaining 20% discusses logistics, principally compensation. I typically pitch a large monthly fee - recently moving from $6,900 to around $12,000-$12,300 - and often add a revenue-share component to align incentives, inspired by the idea that sharing upside makes both parties more comfortable and can lead to more money. I discuss performance-based versus flat pricing, noting that beginners should lean performance-based, intermediates may go flat, and experts often return to performance-based because they have confidence in delivering results. Once the client agrees and pays, I invite them to a kickoff call to set communication expectations: I'm highly reachable via Slack (within 15 minutes) and hold daily office hours from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. PT, plus a weekly strategy session. I ask clients to commit to the same recurring time each week for at least 50 out of 52 weeks, emphasizing consistency so they take the calls seriously and see ongoing value. During each meeting I review wins from the past week, outline what I'll do next, and address any questions or fires, ensuring I always show up with something tangible to justify the retainer. I then follow the roadmap, checking off the 45-plus tasks in order, and optionally sync with the client's project-management system (though I've moved away from using my own ClickUp board as the single source of truth). I also note that other agencies like DesignJoy use shared boards, but I prefer bringing a quick note of wins and next steps to each meeting.

onboardingautomationroadmapexpectations